Class+Discussion+2

Discussion Question #2: What is best about the education in your country? What would you like to see changed in the education in your country? What type of Teaching styles do you think people respond to best?

Jordan- In my opinion,part of America's education is that you get to decide what school you go to, weather is it a private school or a public school. And once your in school, you can choose to take different classes that interest you other than the regular required classes that everyone else is taking. You also get to take part in various other after school activities if you aren't able to during the school day. I think that class sizes should be smaller, so it's something like 15 students per teachers opposed to 30 students to a teacher. I think that it would help us learn better because it would be more one on one. It would be better to try different ways of teaching other than relying on a text book all semester. Also, there should be a different way other than the SAT and ACT to determine your place in our society. We rely so heavily on what we think EVERYONE should be able to do when really we should be trying to find out what unique things everyone can do, and see how they could help todays society.

Drew- I think that the best thing about education in America is that as a middle or high schooler, you have options on which electives and extra cirricular activities to participate in. I also think that when a teacher really gets the class involved with the lesson, students tend to learn more, as opposed to just reading out of a text book.

Mason- I think that the best thing about education in America is the freedom that we are given. We can take classes like chinese instead of spanish or the english classes in china. The education system in America is kind of strange. In America almost everything we do is motivated by fear of punishment. Like the grading system if you do something bad then you get punished. I think that we need to base it more on being rewarded that is an even better motivator.

Jonathan- In my opinion the best thing about the education system in America is the fact that there are public schools and teachers who invested in teaching students the curriculum. I would like to see the schools put more responsibility on the kids sooner. I like the teaching style were they prepare you for the rest of your life.

Kendle- I think the best thing about the education in our country is that students have so many opportunities and choices. I would change the laziness of American students, we take advantage of our education, but to truly succeed I think we should realize how good we have it. I'm a good visual learner, I know a lot of people who aren't though.

Cory- I think our education system is be hind some of the world but still is teaching the information that needs to be thought the best part is the the higher you get in the education system the more you choose what to learn.

Rachel Sabey- I really appreciate the fact that we have public school so that everyone has an equal chance of succeeding no matter what their backgrounds are. They could be born on the street and end up in a law firm or a surgeons office. Some of the things I don't like about school is that we have to go for so long and that a lot of teachers don't care about their students and their life outside of school. I also do not think that teachers should be able to determine their futures by the grades they get. I dont think grades should exist and I think standardized testing is pointless and mistakenly determines the brains of students. I learn best with hands on things and arguing and discussing but most teachers do not teach that way.

Shelby Barton- I think that the best thing about education in America is the flexability and options that we have. But along with that I do not like how our education system is because I feel that we are not learning as much or as well as other countries. As we know China is very ahead in technology and language. I do wish that we had a system with better teaching so that the students would actually learn and not just regurgitate information. I feel that our country could be a little bit more proactive and effecient in better teaching as a whole. I think that a way they could do this is have more hands on activities and maybe not have them be graded because with a grade I just try to finish papers, I am not trying to learn I am just trying to do it well to get an A. Also, I feel like when I am immersed in a culture for any language I am learning I am able to learn more and learn more effeciantly I think. I do think our system is on the right track though.

Brooke-lyn- I think that the best thing about the education in our country is that we have options to take classes that we are interested in and would like to explore our knowledge in for future careers. I would like to see students enjoy learning more and be able to experience more things. I think that people learn better visually and by doing actions, because they will pay more attention to their surroundings.

The best thing about Chinese education is that it helps Chinese kids develop into very disciplined, diligent and understanding young adults. The teachers are very devoted to their jobs and they take full responsibility of their students' learning. The strict and standardized education produce lots of excellant students with great academic grades and quite a lot of them later turn to overseas for higher education. That is a big brain drain, though. I have a fear that too much emphasis on knowledge imparting on the part of teachers may reduce the capability building on the part of the students. What is more, there seems a big gap between the distributions of teaching resources across the country. Thus, Chinese parents are pressured to invest more than they could afford on kid's education in order not to let their kids fall behind in the "rat race".

Connor St. Pierre- The best thing about education in America is that you get to choose where you go to school and what you get to learn when you get to those schools. Also no matter were you come from or what religion you are there is always going to be someone who accepts you for who you are.

Silvester-the education in our country is OK. everyday you have a lot of things to do. but because of this, our basic skills are very good, especially the part of theory. but due to this kind of education you may also feel tired and boring.

Sara-Nearly all Chinese students complain about the pressure Chinese education system gives. For the sake of the equity of education, Chinese universities have to admit students according to their grades they get in National Matriculation Test. the singleness of admitting students brings tons of problems for parents and students. American students seem can never tolerate the high school life Chinese students live through. Most of Chinese students receive high education with utilitarian purpose—to be admitted to key universities and have a good career after graduation. However, one thing must be mentioned, Chinese students’ foundations of subjects are really excellent. Many Chinese students spread around the world’s famous universities. I think the best solution is to change Chinese education system ,however, that seems far away. As for teaching style, I think teachers should motivate students’ learning interests and provide different ways to present lessons other than just giving knowledge and exams.

Allen-In terms of me, education is a process in which knowledge are passed from generation to generation. However, in China, the system now seems a little far away from this purpose. In order to pass the college entrance exam, Chinese students have to work very very hard so that they may survive in the heavily fierce competition. But they may not learn too much usefull and practical skills at last. Chinese educators should really take this into consideration. But there's still some good things about Chinese education. It gives the poor a chance to change their life forever, as the Chinese saying gose"Knowledge can change one's destiny". In this case, it provide a fair platform to those with no background. Through their hard work, they may be admitted to a good university, then chances are that they can have a more promising future later.

Silence:I think our education system is not good enough,it has to improve in many ways.Firstly,the teaching way is old and stiff,just teacher stand in front of the students telling while students sit at their desks listening.In this way ,day after day ,students lose interests and feel hatred.So the teacher just do a meaningless thing .Secondly,people always keep a wrong goal in their minds.They study only to enter the university not becouse of the desire to learn deeply in heart.In other words,they study passively.So after people achieve their goals and enter college,they are always at a loss what to do.I think it's not the aim of our education.Thirdly,our system lacks individualized things.We should encourge students seek theory by themselves through searching the Internet and doing experiments.Then theycan learn something practical and useful in our daily life.Fourthly,our education system is not equal enough .Because in some places the mark in entering university is high while in some bige cities the mark is much lower.So students can't receive equal chance to further study.

Alice: In my opinion, the education system in China is the product of Chinese sociaty. Because of the large population, we need to study in a big class, which means teachers might not be able to let everyone adapt to the teaching methord. I do hope there will be a better way to devide student to different universities in stead of the College Entrance Exam as it has given thousands of students great pressure. In spite of these disadvantages of Chinese education, we could get many good friends as we had worked hard for the same goal for a long time. I wonder if there is a best teaching style. Maybe different people have different view. The most suitable one is the best one

Sean Fritter- What I like the best about the education in this country is the fact that everyone has a chance for education. Now, I know that college is a whole different thing but up to then just about everyone has a chance to learn. I'm not sure I want anything changed in the way school works. I mean, schools not perfect with the waking up early, the mandatory attendance, and the making you pay for it, but I school school is finme the way it is. I like high school. The teaching style that I myself respond to the best is the fun, interactive, style. I like it when the teacher has an activity that includes my artistic talent. I also like the activities that have silent time included. and a teacher who lets you listen to music is always good. music helps me concentrate. those are great styles of teaching.

Parker- In my opinion the education system in China is better than ours in America but it's not necessarally the best thing for the country because they are not able to express freedom and creativity with the education that they are reciving and we are aloud to change things up and to show our creativity with what we do. It may be true in the sense that china is going to pass us up in education but no other country in the world can ever pass up the crativity and imagination of America and if somebody already has then let me know, but up to this point nonody has proven that fact to be false, so until then I will still think that the education system in America is better than that of the education system in China

Alexander - In my opinion China has better education than America. In fact, all students in China are very respect to their teacher, so the teachers have their right to make their students smart (sometimes violences could be the best way). The teachers give lots of assignments (homeworks) for the students, so the students will feel they have a responsibilty. American schools are free education. That means that all children are able to attend. it makes the American students feel that education is cheap, so they won't aprreciate it. China schools are not free education. This means that only the people that are middle class-upper class will be able to afford to attend. Students with higher family incomes have more opportunites and higher test scores because of these opportunities. So, for those who are poor, education is very important and expensive. they will always focus on study, and will always be better each day. Because education is expensive in China.